What's the deal with Flexitarianism??

Thursday, 11 May 2017

"Hungover Noodles", as part of Jamie Oliver's Meat Free Mondays

"Would you be a flexitarian?" I asked my sister. she paused before asking "What's that? "Part time vegetarian?" I answered. "Oh, no, it's just cheating.You're either a Vegetarian or you're not. There's no in between" See, that's what I thought. But as I researched further into this topic, I realised there's more it to than meets the eye or the occasional meat pie(see what I did there). I'll start with telling you guys the official definition according to en.oxforddictionaries.com :

"A person who has a primarily vegetarian diet but occasionally eats meat or fish."

When I first came across the term, I questioned it and thought: "Isn't this cheating? Flexitarians clearly aren't Vegetarians, they just adopt a Vegetarian diet for personal reasons without believing the ethical principles behind it. I first saw it in action a few years ago on Come Dine With Me, when a contestant who claimed to be a Vegetarian had pinched some meat off a fellow contestants plate when the host's back was turned. At the time, when I saw this, I was so confused. I mean, why claim to be a vegetarian and still eat meat?( I obviously hadn't come across the term "Flexitarian" back then, a term that has apparently been around since the 90s) However, when I looked further into this recent lifestyle choice, I began to understand why people decide to adopt a Flexitarian diet, as such. Recent statistics have shown there is a direct correlation between Colon cancer and eating PROCESSED meats as opposed to unprocessed meat, like chicken on the bone. Perhaps, it is statistics like this that contribute to a 35% rise in the the number of people identifying as Flexitarian in the past year. Even celebrities are embracing it, with Jamie Oliver introducing 'Meat Free Mondays early last year, it seems as if the number of people identifying as Flexitarian won't be on the decrease anytime soon, and by the look of this delicious looking "Smoky Chilli" as seen on https://theflexitarian.co.uk , I can see why that might be.

Vegetarian Smoky Chilli

Vegetarian Chilli enchiladas

As a meat eater, I obviously love my Chicken, Bacon, Sausages and whatnot but even I can see that reducing my protein intake wouldn't be such a bad idea. I understand why the flexitarian diet is a thing and why its growing rapidly in mainstream society. I'm certainly not against it, but I do question it's ethical values and wonder whether if in a way, it nullifies the meaning of vegetarianism as a whole but with food as enticing as the ones seen above, I don't see this diet phasing out any time soon and that certainly isn't a bad thing.